And the Coliseum crowd of 10,000 erupts like it hasn’t since the Toronto series.

By not saying for two months what they would do with the No. 1 pick, the Islanders were telling you all along.

Make no mistake, the selling of John Tavares begins tonight. (Updated 7:30 pm - NYI saying that if you buy a season ticket tonight, you’ll meet Tavares next week). Expect at least one mega sales event next week, along with a media tour. They won’t put JT on billboards, but the Islanders have two and a half months before camp to make “Seen Stamkos?” look like the publicity for a school play. And they will. Just watch ‘em.

This is a great kid and a potentially great NHL player. He will serve the Islanders and their fans well.

Now on to finding a dozen more players over the next year for the rebuild. The Islanders kept this a secret for a few weeks. For their next trick, they will attempt to assemble a team that can win a playoff round and then reach that consistent contender goal.

With Tavares, they are a lot closer. The celebration in Islanders Country begins.